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It will be some time before school bluefin tuna arrive in our waters, but the National Marine Fisheries Service has some good news for those boaters registered in the Angling category. Private boats with the required permit will be allowed three school tuna (27 to less than 47 inches) per day plus one large school/small medium of 47 to less than 73 inches. Party and charter boats in that category get a better deal with three school bluefins along with the one large school/small medium per day. Given an improvement in the bluefin population, these regulations are expected to keep landings within the U.S. quota. Recent bad weather had a negative effect on most local fishing this week, but that started straightening out Thursday -- and the weekend looks to be fishable. The ocean has been very slow to warm this spring, and that may be the reason why very few stripers have been caught there at this late date even though bunkers have been abundant. The Shore party boat fleet will be prospecting in force, and the Jamaica from Brielle is also going to try a magic hours trip at 3:30 p.m. by reservation (732 528-5014) on Saturday and Sunday. Their Friday morning striper trip leaves early at 6:30, but the weekend trips are at 7:30. Raritan Bay party boats have had a very hard time catching stripers on bait, but Capt. Rob Semkewyc had better news from his Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands on Thursday morning when he finally had a good bite of mostly 24-to-27-inch shorts along with some keepers up to a 41-inch, 25-pounder boated by Jerry Gracos of Toms River. Tank Matraxia and his friends from Lyndhurst did better while fishing in the bay Wednesday night with Johnny Bucktails out of Keyport than was the case Monday night. Bunkers were hard to net, and once again the bass were very fussy -- sucking the guts out of bunker chunks and difficult to hook. Yet, they stayed out late to boat six mostly 28-to-30-inchers while Matraxia put ALS tags in five others. Joe Masi of Keyport proved that there are some much bigger bass in the bay when he trolled a 46-pounder on a Mo-Jo while trolling on Naz with Anthony Nascimento. The Tackle Box in Hazlet sent along  a photo of that bass with a belly sagging with roe before Masi released her to provide many more stripers when she spawns in the Hudson River next month. Remember that virtually all stripers over 20 pounds are females, and those being caught in Raritan Bay are from the Hudson stock that's been providing us with fine fishing the last few years while the coastal migratory stock from the Chesapeake and Delaware bays has spotty.   Trolling has been most effective in the bay this spring. Mark Roy of Warren trolled chartreuse Mo-Jos Sunday to put Christopher Jollitto of Marlboro into his first striper as they caught nine on Release Me from Raritan Marina in Hazlet. Roy trolled by himself the next day to catch 16 bass up to a 39-inch, 21-pounder. There was a change Thursday as he had to switch to white in order to troll four bass -- including the first for Joe Olivero of Bridgewater.  The best bluefish casting of the year is going on in the Barnegat Bay area. Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park reports that bunker chunks worked best until the waters warmed a bit and both poppers and SP Minnows did the job on mostly 8-to-16-pound choppers. The surf had been almost unfishable, but that is changing and bluefishing in the suds could break open any day.  School stripers have been coopering when surf conditions are good. Capt. Jim Freda of Shore Catch has been doing very well casting Tactical Anglers poppers to big blues in the shallow waters of Manasquan River, and is taking single reservations for afternoon trips. Bob Correll of Bay Head fished his Boston Whaler in Manasquan Inlet this week to catch those jumbo blues. He couldn't get them up on poppers, but they were all over Tsunami Shad lures. Correll noted other anglers were scoring with SP Minnows. Blackfishing has been tough due to bad weather and a big swell, but the Ocean Explorer from Belmar had good news from Thursday's fishing that produced lots of action and some limits. It was a nice day, and they were able to fish relatively shallow bottoms. For daily reports on the fast-changing spring fishing, check my blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing.
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